20 State Attorneys General Want to Ban “Military Ammunition”

It seems like gun control advocates are taking some notes from standup comedian Chris Rock’s bit on “bullet control.” Last week, 20 Attorneys General signed a letter to the White House’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention requesting to stop ammo from Lake City Ammunition Plant from reaching civilians.

While gun control advocates hail the effort as more “common-sense” regulation, firearms enthusiasts are reeling from another coordinated effort to raise the price of ammunition to unaffordable levels.

What Does the Letter Say?

The AGs dubbed ammunition produced at the Lake City facility (specifically 5.56x45) as “military ammunition,” and argue that it has no place on store shelves. In the letter, the group of AGs argued that ammo made at Lake City is being “diverted” to civilian sales. They also claim that US tax dollars “subsidize” this ammo.

Using this argument, the AGs in the letter essentially say that the Federal Government is financing mass shootings. They specifically list four major mass shootings that have occurred in since 2017 where perpetrators used ammo from Lake City:

• Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL
• Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, PA
• Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX
• Tops Friendly Markets in Buffalo, NY

At the end of the letter, the group of AGs petitioned the White House to end the “diversion of military ammunition into civilian hands” by rewriting Lake City’s production contract to prohibit sales to civilians.

Which Attorney Generals Have Signed the Military Ammunition Letter?

The letter was signed by nearly half of the Attorneys General in the country, hailing from 19 states and Washington, DC, All of the AGs who have signed the letter are members of the Democrat party. Many of them have a history of supporting gun control initiatives. Here’s a breakdown of which state AGs have signed the letter:

• Letitia James: Attorney General of New York, currently in the national spotlight for her role in Donald Trump’s court case.
• Kris Mayes: Attorney General of Arizona, currently trying to enact red flag laws in Arizona.
• Rob Bonta: the infamous Attorney General of California, who has tirelessly worked to curb concealed carry rights and enforce assault weapons bans in his state.
• William Tong: Attorney General from Connecticut, a longtime gun control advocate who has supported bans on bump stocks and 3D-printed firearms.
• Kathleen Jennings: Attorney General of Delaware, who has spearheaded anti-gun initiatives in her state.
• Brian C. Schwalb: Attorney General of Washington, DC, who petitioned the US Supreme Court to ban carrying guns in sensitive areas like places of worship.
• Anne E. Lopez: Attorney General of Hawaii, who is currently embroiled in a state-level lawsuit with Hawaii’s Supreme Court that involves banning guns in certain places.
• Kwame Raoul: Attorney General of Illinois, who petitioned the Supreme Court to ban guns in sensitive areas along with AG Schwalb of Washington, DC.
• Aaron M. Frey: Attorney General of Maine, who has worked for years to prohibit the transfer of downloadable firearms blueprints on the internet.
• Andrea Joy Campbell: Attorney General of Massachusetts, who launched a state-level gun control program headed by Everytown’s former chief lawyer.
• Dana Nessel: Attorney General of Michigan. Under her tenure, Michigan has enacted several new gun control measures including expanded background checks, safe storage laws, and red flag laws.
• Keith Ellison: Attorney General of Minnesota and former congressman, a darling of gun control groups who has worked to ban 3D printed guns and signed a letter petitioning the Supreme Court to uphold California’s law prohibiting anyone younger than 21 to own a long gun.
• Aaron D. Ford: Attorney General of Nevada, a vocal gun control advocate who supported credit card companies implementing a new merchant code for gun-related sales.
• Matthew J. Platkin: Attorney General of New Jersey, who founded the state’s Statewide Firearms Enforcement Office.
• Raul Torrez: Attorney General of New Mexico, who has supported Governor Lujan Grisham’s executive order banning citizens from carrying firearms.
• Ellen F. Rosenbaum: Attorney General of Oregon. Under her watch, the state passed Measure 114, which required Oregon residents to acquire a license to buy a gun.
• Peter Neronha: Attorney General of Rhode Island and a staunch gun control advocate who supported laws to curb concealed carry rights and raise the age to buy guns from 18 to 21.
• Charity R. Clark: the newly-elected Attorney General of Vermont.
• Bob Ferguson: Attorney General of Washington, the architect of his states’ Assault Weapons Ban who is currently running for governor.

Final Thoughts

While I opened this article with a reference to a Chris Rock joke, “bullet control” really does seem to be a core component of the current gun control playbook.

Essentially, gun control advocates have realized that actually restricting access to firearms isn’t a winning strategy. So, they’re pivoting. Instead of taking aim at guns themselves, they’re using more underhanded techniques to try and disarm the population.

Lake City produces 1.8 billion rounds of ammo per year. If ammo from Lake City stops hitting the civilian market completely (it’s already been drastically reduced thanks to the US Military needing more ammo), the price of civilian ammo will skyrocket. If ammo is unaffordable, every gun in the US will become a fancy paperweight.

It’s also interesting to note that this letter comes less than two months after Bloomberg ran a story about how Lake City makes ammo used in mass shootings. Michael Bloomberg is one of the major financiers of Everytown, the country’s largest gun control nonprofit.

Hopefully this ends up being a “nothing burger,” but we’ll see what the future holds.